


Mail for Ezekiel

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Dogs, First Kiss, First Meetings, Latino Character, M/M, Not Beta Read, Postman Simon, awkward Simon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 22:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7820239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey, buddy," Simon greeted the animal and reached out, gently scratching behind the dog's ear. Ezekiel tilted his head, playfully nudging the man's lower arm and stared up at him in clear anticipation. He huffed out a soft laugh and reached into the pocket of his light jacket, presenting the dog with a thin postcard with the message "Mail for Ezekiel" with two hearts scrawled next to it and beneath it he had written "have a dog-tastic day". Ezekiel seemed pleased as usual and ran off with his delivery while the off-duty-postman turned around to leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mail for Ezekiel

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, David's dog is Raphael's in this story because why would I think up a new dog if there's _[this](http://mckvch.tumblr.com/tagged/ezekiel)_ perfectly adorable being? :D Although I kind of highly doubt the real Ezekiel would fetch the mail...maybe he would, only to tear it apart *laughs*
> 
> Also, this oneshot was inspired by _[this](http://mckvch.tumblr.com/post/149141426127)_ post on Tumblr.

Working as a postman had ever exactly been how Simon had imagined his life to be but, to be honest, it was still so much better than his broken off accounting studies. Delivering mail was a little monotone, sure, but he got to parts of the city where he had never been before and got to know new people. It was weirdly nice to just smile at and greet people, maybe making their start into the day a little bit better with such a simple little gesture. One of the downsides of the job was the fact that dogs basically loathed his mere existence and a few had been unsettlingly close to biting him. Simon had grown up with a cat but he really loved dogs just as much, maybe even a little more, so it was sad that now he was the sworn enemy of basically every dog ever, at least during work.

Okay, it wasn't really  _every_  dog because there was this one that obviously hadn't gotten the memo that his kind hated postmen with a passion. Simon had expected said dog to rip his throat out because this one was a German Doberman and...well...they sadly had a certain kind of reputation. Though this one did not meet this reputation in the least. He was like a big, gentle and pretty goofy child. Also, he  _loved_  Simon and he loved mail even more.

The Doberman,  _Ezekiel_  his dog tag said, always ran up to the gate whenever he was outside when the postman arrived. He would always greet Simon happily, barking in excitement and putting his paws up on the fence gate to nudge the young man's arm with his wet snout, asking to be pet. Also, Ezekiel always wanted to take the mail back to the house and there was even a note on the mailbox saying that if the dog was in the garden, to give the mail to him.

The first time Simon hadn't been too sure about it and hesitantly held the letters out to the dog. Ezekiel was always careful and gentle, despite eagerly snatching the mail from the human's hand and then he happily ran back towards the house to deliver it to his owner. At least the former accounting student hoped he brought it to his owner and didn't just sit down somewhere to rip the mail to pieces but it had been several weeks now and there had been no complaint about missing mail yet.

Of course he didn't have to deliver mail to Ezekiel's house every day - Raphael Santiago was the owners name but Simon had yet to encounter the guy - but the first two times he walked by without having anything to deliver, disappointing the ecstatic dog that was waiting to receive something to give his owner, he made a decision. Simon started the habit to always carry some piece of paper on him during his route so when he had no proper mail to give to the Doberman; he simply presented him with a piece of paper and even scribbled short random messages on it beforehand. He knew he was being ridiculous but it was way too adorable to see Ezekiel wagging his tail in joy when he received mail daily.

Now, though, this was getting a little bit out of hand because it was Simon's day off and he still walked towards Santiago's property with a piece of paper in his pocket. The thought of Ezekiel being out of mail during his days off was almost unsettling and he had woken up at the time he usually had to get ready for work and decided, why not pay his happiest customer a visit.

He could hear the barking even before he reached the right house and when he did arrive; Ezekiel was already stood at the gate paws on the dark wood and tongue sticking out of his mouth. Simon felt his lips curl up into a soft smile and maybe it was just him making the dog's day but also the other way around.

"Hey, buddy," Simon greeted the animal and reached out, gently scratching behind the dog's ear. Ezekiel tilted his head, playfully nudging the man's lower arm and stared up at him in clear anticipation. He huffed out a soft laugh and reached into the pocket of his light jacket, presenting the dog with a thin postcard with the message "Mail for Ezekiel" with two hearts scrawled next to it and beneath it he had written "have a dog-tastic day". Ezekiel seemed pleased as usual and ran off with his delivery while the off-duty-postman turned around to leave.

A "Hey, you!!" made him involuntarily flinch and turn around again after two steps, unsure if the words were directed at him but sure enough there was a young man walking towards the gate, the postcard in his hand and Ezekiel trailing after him. Simon's eyes widened a little because he had certainly not expected Ezekiel's owner to be a ridiculously hot man with expressive eyebrow, perfectly styled hair and lips so soft looking, you wanted to fall right into them...with your own, of course. Holy crap!

"Oh. Uh. Me?" Simon pointed at himself while glancing around in hopes that there was someone else around who could have been addressed. But it was just after sunrise on a Saturday morning, of course, the streets were completely empty because normal people were still in bed or at least at their breakfast table instead of skipping said breakfast to deliver mail to a dog. Maybe he should get his head checked...

"You're the one always handing my dog random notes?" The man wanted to know with a frown and his expression looked quite displeased. Simon swallowed nervously and nodded - why did he nod? He was too young and adorable to die this early, over ridiculous mail delivered to a dog. Oh, well...

"Why? You do realise that dogs can't read??" Ezekiel's gorgeous owner asked, his frown deepening but his deep, velvety smooth voice didn't sound as angry as his eyebrow looked. Maybe the guy just had a resting "I'm going to kill you face"? If that was a thing.  _Was that a thing?_ Please _let that be a thing!_

"Because...he seems to love fetching the mail and on days when I had none, I didn't want to disappoint him," Simon answered with a little shrug and he felt his cheeks heat up a little. This sounded less ridiculous in his head...To his surprise the other guy huffed, clearly amused, and glance at his dog.

"You didn't want to disappoint my dog," Raphael repeated in a disbelieving voice and Ezekiel looked up at him with loving eyes, sitting down obediently and with a little whine. Looking at Raphael Santiago, Simon kind of felt like joining his dog and just sit down next to him, to stare up at this human piece of art. Seriously it should be forbidden to look and sound this hot! It was way too early to be confronted with ridiculously handsome people...

"Yeah...," Simon confirmed with a little shrug and the guy must think he was a complete fool. Maybe he was right in thinking so. He at least felt like the biggest fool ever and wished to have stayed in bed this morning. To his surprise, Raphael honest to god laughed at that - it was a short, slightly rough sound that made Simon hold back a shiver.

"This doesn't look like the usual work uniform for postmen, though," Raphael noted, his gaze travelling up and down the other's body, making Simon flush a little more and his heart skipped a nervous beat. Right, how to explain this without looking even more stupid?

"Uh...it's...it's my day off?"

"Are you asking me?" The amusement was clear in the other man's voice and dark eyes now and Simon really hoped for the ground to open up and swallow him. This man was beyond sexy and of course, he had to make the worst first impression he possibly could.  _Well done, Simon_. He should ask for a different route for his mail delivery on Monday...

"I was just about to have breakfast, how about you join me? Seems like you have nothing better to do anyway when you deliver mail to dogs on your day off."

_...what??_

Raphael tilted his head with a little grin, reaching out to unlatch the gate and push it open. Ezekiel shifted in his sitting position, glanced at the gate, Simon, his owner and back to the gate, clearly temper to just throw himself at his favourite postman but unsure if he was allowed to.

"I...why...are you serious?"

"You don't have to." Raphael shrugged and was about to close the gate again but Simon reached out with a "No!" and he had intended to grab the gate to stop the other but of course he managed to grab the other man's hand instead. The warm skin was slightly rough under his fingertips and for a split second he forgot how to breathe before quickly pulling back with an unmanly little squeak. Raphael simply raised one eyebrow in silent amusement but pushed the gate further open and stepped aside for Simon to enter the property.

"I was wondering why Ezekiel was always so eager to be let outside in the morning. He already had the habit of fetching the mail but it was never this bad," Raphael mentioned as they walked towards the house but instead of heading to the front door, they walked around and entered the terrace with a table already set for breakfast. The Doberman walked right next to Simon, bumping into him every now and then with happy little sounds.

"I'm sorry?" Simon offered because he was not quite sure if it bothered Raphael that his dog wanted to be let out every morning or if he didn't mind. The rather unimpressed glance he received in return certainly didn't clear it up either.

"Don't be. I think I get it now," the other replied and the corners of his soft looking lips curled into a little smirk. Somehow Simon felt like there was something he didn't get...He wasn't able to ask, though, because Raphael offered him a seat and went back inside to grab another mug and plate, while Ezekiel placed his head in his lap as soon as he sat down. Simon smiled at the dog and pet his head, scratching behind the animal's ear softly. So much for the big and oh-so-scary Dobermans - this one was just a big cuddly goofball.

"So, are you going to tell me your name or do I have to keep calling you  _the adorable postman_  in my head?" Raphael's voice carried over as he walked back outside and the little smirk from before was back, bringing an almost mischievous glint to his beautiful dark eyes. Simon blinked in confusion. Did the other just call him  _adorable_? He obviously needed to get his ears checked.

"Simon. Simon Lewis," he almost breathed out and it proved to be difficult to avert his gaze and not start full on staring at Raphael when he sat down, his knee bumping into Simon's and he was almost certain the contact hadn't been accidental.

"So,  _Simon Lewis_ , do you always write messages to other people's dogs and go visit them on your days off?" There was a teasing kind of lilt to the other's words and Simon seriously wouldn't mind being read the phone book if it was done by this velvety voice. He was pretty Raphael would be able to make a fucking phone number sound like an innuendo.

"N-no. Ezekiel is the only dog not out to kill me so...he's the only one with special treatment," Simon grinned a little sheepishly and mumbled soft thanks when Raphael offered to pour him coffee. This might be the weirdest, yet best situation Simon had ever gotten himself into. Who wouldn't be happy to have breakfast with someone like Raphael? Not just because of his stunning looks but Simon was already taking a liking to the other's character as well because he seemed like a laid back and surprisingly soft guy.

They fell into an easy conversation after that, telling each other about themselves and talking about everything and nothing while enjoying their breakfast together. Simon was surprised to hear that Raphael younger than him by two years but he wasn't surprised at all that the other worked at a rather fancy clothing store, founded and owned by his best friend.

***

From this day on Simon really started looking forward to his daily route because not only was he greeted by Ezekiel as usual but most of the days even Raphael headed outside - sometimes with unstyled, adorably curly hair and soft looking sweatpants that clung way too low on his hips. Simon might enjoy such mornings the most even though such a sight always killed him a little bit. Raphael was by far the most gorgeous man he had ever seen and it didn't take too long for him to develop a full-on crush on the guy. Some days the younger man walked up to the gate with two mugs of coffee and they spend a while just standing there, talking and sipping the hot beverage while Ezekiel seemed to be lacking in direction because he couldn't really fetch and bring the mail, when his owner and Simon stood half a meter apart.

"I think we're ruining his hobby," Simon pointed out one day when the dog took the mail from him, kept it in his mouth and simply laid down at Raphael's feet who leant against the gate. Raphael's lips quirked up in amusement and he replied with a little shrug.

"He'll live or is this your way of trying to tell me I should stay inside?" The question was obviously meant to tease him but Simon still shook his head hastily with widened eyes.

"No, of course not. This is always the best part of my morning," he admitted and felt his cheeks heat up - even as a teenager he hadn't blushed this easily, dammit! Of course the other noticed his reddening cheeks and Raphael's lips curled into a slow, almost lazy smile that could only be described as  _sexy_.

"We have that in common," Raphael replied to Simon's surprise and his heart started beating a little bit faster at the mere thought that the other might be looking forward to their short meetings in the morning as well, maybe even as much as Simon himself did. Sadly they only had a limited time to talk because Simon had to get back to his deliveries and Raphael had to get ready to head to his own workplace, which always left them with a frustratingly small time-frame.

"We should have breakfast again," Simon blurted out when he noticed it was time to get going again and he really, really wanted to spend some more time with Raphael, get to know him better and preferably just listen to his absolutely heavenly voice for hours while staring at his perfect face.  _Yes, Simon was aware that his thoughts might be at a point of becoming a little creepy..._

"Is this you finally asking me on a date?"

"A--I--do you want it to be a date?" He asked in return and his eyes widened when Raphael reached out and grabbed the collar of his work shirt, gently pulling him closer until their faces were only inches apart. Simon was pretty sure the other must be able to hear the rapid pounding of his heart trying to burst from his ribcage right about now. And he was even surer of just dreaming this whole situation when he suddenly felt the press of warm, ridiculously soft lips against his own. Holy shit! Raphael.was.kissing.him.

Simon's hip bumped into the fence gate when he leant in, wanting to be closer to the younger male, and he barely noticed the slight sting of pain. He was unable to notice anything at all because his whole perception solely focused on this amazing first kiss that took his breath away.

"That's a  _yes_ , by the way," Raphael commented with a sly grin when he pulled back and Simon was unable to do anything but gasp softly at the loss of contact, chasing the taste of coffee and  _Raphael_  on his lips with the tip of his tongue. Before Simon's brain was able to catch up on what just happened, the other stole another, shorter kiss from him and whispered his goodbye with another playful smirk and just casually walked back to his house, as if this kiss hadn't affected him at all.


End file.
